Establishment of Afar political autonomy in Eritrea's "Special Status" Region for Afar in Danaklia will resolve tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia over access to the Red Sea
Ottawa-Canada,
January 1st, 2024
By : Ahmed Mohammed
In October 2023, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addressed the Ethiopian parliament to assert Ethiopia's strategic “natural” rights to access the Red Sea waters in neighboring countries. The neighbors of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti responded to Ethiopia's provocative comment by declaring their territorial integrity non-negotiable, sacrosanct, excessive, and perplexing.
PM Abiy's comment is compassionate in Eritrea, a nation that gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after 30 years of conflict. Once again, Ethiopia-Eritrea relations are deteriorating, and many in the region are bracing for another battle.
This article will explore the "Afar Factor,” one of the many arguments Dr. Abiy offered to justify Ethiopia's interest in the Red Sea, why empowering the Afar with “Special Status” is a sound political strategy for the region, and what Eritrea’s role should be towards the Afar nation in the country.
Ethiopia's case for port access to the Red Sea was defended by PM Abiy using the Afar demographic factor of the Afar Triangle, in which he spoke of the Afar Sultanates keeping cultural and economic relationships that overruled transboundary and international borders as indigenous peoples.
PM Abiy emphasized the use of Afar demographic regions, which include coastal villages and ports along Eritrea's Red Sea coast, and Afar customary law, which was used by Afar nations to govern themselves. This could be a suitable option for Addis Ababa to address the geopolitical and development needs of landlocked Ethiopia, whose population is rapidly increasing.
The Strategic Curse of the Afar Triangle and Geopolitics
The Afar are an ancient and indigenous nation. The Afar traditional territories (Afar Triangle) underwent fragmentation into today’s sovereign states of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea during what was dubbed as “the Scramble for Africa” in the 1880s, or the slicing of Africa by a European power in 1885. The Franco-Italian colonialist divided what is known as the “Afar triangle” into three pieces and set up their colonies and international borders separating the Afar nation. Djibouti fell to the French, Eritrea to the Italians, and Ethiopia was, by and large, escaped uncolonized, though the Italians briefly did occupy Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941.
The strategic Afar territories encompass an area of 157,000 km2 in size approx. A domain large enough to combine four European states (Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland). Geopolitically, the Triangle sits at a highly strategic intersection of the Red Sea coastal waters and international maritime shipping lanes, combining the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandab. The Triangle also has three significant Ports (Ports of Assab, in Eritrea, Obock, Tadjourah, and Djibouti). The region’s vast deserts also have rich natural resources, critical minerals, and precious metals.
The indigenous Afar refer to the Afar Triangle as “a strategic curse.” The colonial slicing of Afar territories by the Europeans and the establishment of artificial borders have left permanent scars, a psychological wound that characterizes today’s Afar poverty, marginalization, and helplessness in the territory.
The European colonialists initially agreed and kept peace treaties with the Afar nation. Still, as they gradually asserted their powers in the region, they engaged the Afar Sultanates with force to take over the Afar hinterlands. The Italians and the French killed both the Afar Sultanate of Girrifo in Eritrea and Goba’ad in Djibouti case. The Sultan of Goba’ad, who raised a revolt against the French, was taken to French colonies of Madagascar, never to be found. Map of Afar Triangle in Red
Today, long after the colonial slicing of Afar territories by the Europeans and the establishment of artificial borders are constant history, the Afar continue to suffer from permanent scars left over from colonialism and a psychological wound that characterizes today’s Afar poverty, marginalization, helplessness in Eritrea and beyond.
The Afar remain victims of the "original sin" colonialism of Europe, as well as victims of the legacy and residual effects of colonialism, which the modern states inherited to subjugate them.
Ethiopia’s PM Abiy's recognition of Afar as a sovereign nation within Ethiopia marks a significant stride in facing a long-standing injustice against Afar's marginalization.
Eritrea’s Independence and the Cost of Afar Autonomy
Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in May 1991. The birth of a new independent nation brought about the end to indigenous Afar autonomous rule in Dankaila. This traditional territory Afar used to govern themselves historically, including as recently as the last Ethiopian rule in 1991.
For the past 32 years, Eritrea has been run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the highly centralized single-party state led by Isaias Afwerki. Unlike the EPRDF, which constitutionally guaranteed ethnic self-determination for nations, nationalities, and peoples within Ethiopia, the PFDJ introduced a new cultural identity for its newfound country.
PFDJ’s choice of cultural revolution would mean the pre-existing cultural identities, such as the Afar, would have to be assimilated into Eritrea’s single cultural identity, which is in the image majority of Tigrigna culture.
In 2015, the UAE took a strategic coast region in Assab and set up a military base, and the Australian corporation took a massive potash territory. They established the Culloli Potash mine, which was later sold to the Chinese corporation.
Government policies and actions have put the Afar population in Eritrea at risk of extinction. Eritrea has been a systematic destruction of Afar traditional economic activities. Afar have lost the right to fish in their traditional waters. Eritrea closed the conventional borders to the land and sea, long-established life-sustaining cultural ties and cross-border trade with Afar kinfolks in Djibouti and Ethiopia, which the Afar practiced for over five millennia, are gone with military patrolling fortified borders.
Tens of thousands of Afar have been displaced from strategic and natural resource areas as a result of incommunicado detention, mass murders targeting Afar leadership, and illegal and uncompensated evictions.
Every year since 2013, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Eritrea have accused Eritrean authorities of racially discriminating indigenous Afar and crimes against humanity.
Eritrea’s nation-building agenda is a total land grab. The Eritrean government can no longer hide behind its sovereignty claims or national strategy by enforcing repressive and racist policies that marginalize indigenous Afar.
Eritrea must recognize Dankalia “Special Status” Afar region.
Historically, the Afar traditional territory, Dankalia, has exercised a degree of autonomy until the Eritrean military took over the country. Independence. The Ottoman Turks, even Italians and French, recognized the Afar Sultanate as traditional owners of their territory, which they acknowledged through signing treaties and settling their forces accordingly. The uniqueness of the Afar nation’s aspiration for self-government goes beyond today’s Eritrea’s current. Djibouti, formally known as “Territoire français des Afars et des Issas,” recognized the Afars and Issas peoples as its founding nations.
In 1994, the Ethiopian federal constitution recognized the Afar regional state as one of nine (9) ethnolinguistic regional states (Kilils); now, the federation has grown to twelve (12). The recognition of the Afar nation’s rights to self-determination and self-government paved the way for indigenous Afar autonomous functions in the region. The Ethiopian parliament approved the federal budget for the 2023/24 fiscal year for the Afar regional state, 6.3 billion birr (112 million USD) approx. The Afar regional state also has a GDP of 15.94 billion birr ($0.567 billion) at a constant market price. Between 2012 and 2018, the region registered an average growth rate of 8. 10% (Afar Bureau of Finance and Economic Development [ABoFED], 2020).
Under a special status arrangement, Afar in Ethiopia has excelled as a self-governing nation. The Afar language (Afar-Af) is the official language of the regional state. The Afar national regional state has recorded nearly twofold economic growth from 2010 to 2018. The region strives to build primary schools and health centers and attract investment to develop its economic force further.
International precedence Eritrea should grant “Special Status” to Afar
Cameron's experience: Special Status
Like the Afar of the Horn of Africa, Cameroon in west-central Africa underwent a colonial experience in which two European colonial powers divided the indigenous territories, specifically (the French and the British). Cameroon gained its independence in 1961, with a majority francophone central government imposing its will to assimilate the smaller Anglophone regions and oppress them. Six years of conflict have led to the death of over 6,000 people in Cameroon's two Anglophone regions, as well as the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. In 2019, Cameroon's government acknowledged the Anglophone regions' distinct identity by giving them Special Status. Crisis Group(2023)
The government says that awarding “special status” to the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions will give Cameroon’s Anglophone minority greater autonomy over local affairs and settle historical grievances. According to the administration of President Paul Biya, this will mean secessionist forces will no longer have a reason to fight.
Canada experience: “Québec a Distinct Society within Canada”
Québec, a French-speaking province in Canada, felt that their grievances had been ignored for years and that they stood in a subordinate position. Many French speakers felt marginalized, neglected, and under pressure to assimilate into English Canadian culture.
In the early 1960s, the resentments burst into the open, ushering in 30 years of social, cultural, economic, and political transformation known as the ‘quiet revolution.’ Trade union militancy reached unprecedented levels. A strike called by the ‘Common Front’ in 1972 briefly brought the provincial economy to a halt. Some 10,000 students marched in Montreal, demanding that McGill University, the Anglophone elite’s bastion, be turned into a Francophone institution. Through the 1960s, a bombing campaign was conducted by the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ), an urban guerrilla organization that professed a blend of nationalist and left-wing ideology.
On November 27, 2006, the House of Commons passed a resolution recognizing Québec as a nation. This resolution read: "This House recognizes that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."
Supreme Court of Canada stated that Québec has "distinct legal traditions and social values" in a significant advisory opinion in constitutional law issued in 2014 (Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, [2014] 1 SCR 433, para. 49). Canada recognized Special Political and Legal Status for the province of Quebec in Canada.
Spain experience: Catalonia's “historical nations”
Catalonia, one of Spain’s wealthiest regions with its distinct language, culture, and identity, enjoyed broad autonomy before the Spanish Civil War, but that was crushed during Franco’s era.
Catalonia’s identity was ruthlessly suppressed under Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. After his death and the return of democracy in Spain, Catalonia received a statute of autonomy in 1979. It continued to be an influential force in Spanish politics, holding varying degrees of power at different times, depending on the makeup of the Spanish parliament.
The 1978 Spanish constitution recognizes that Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia are ‘historical nations,’ meaning historically and culturally distinct nationalities with a characteristic and rooted identity with economic, social, and linguistic common traditions ( Guibernau, 2004; Keating, 2007 ).
India and Pakistan experience Special Status for Kashmira and Jammu regions
British colonial rule in 1947 separated the region into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan; the status of Kashmir became a point of tension between the two countries, both of whom wanted Kashmir within their freshly drawn borders. The ruling Hindu maharaja of Muslim-majority Kashmir initially declared Kashmir an independent princely state, but upon a threat of Pakistani takeover, eventually acceded to joining India under certain conditions of autonomy granted to the region.
On 17 October 1949, Article 370 was inserted into the Indian Constitution as a 'temporary provision,’ giving Jammu and Kashmir special powers. These articles institutionalized a significant level of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir within Indian law. Article 370 of the Indian constitution is an article that grants special autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
On August 5, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced revoking Articles 370 and 35-A from the country’s constitution. These two connected pieces of legislation grant the state of Jammu and Kashmir—the Indian-controlled portion of the overall Kashmir region—special semi-autonomous status. Scrapping these provisions will have significant implications for Jammu and Kashmir’s Muslim-majority citizenry, have grave ramifications for already tense India-Pakistan relations, and could lead to violence in the region. csis.org
UN Human Rights Mechanism
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea recommends that the Human Rights Council uses special procedures to protect the Afar in Eritrea
The UN Commission concludes.
The human rights situation of Afar in Eritrea poses a threat to international peace and security(361a)
Please bring to the attention relevant special procedures for appropriate action, the human rights violations and crimes identified by the Commission in its reports, including the situation of minorities, such as the Kunama and the Afar (UN COI report (page 87,358a, b)
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) recognizes Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.
The Afar are entitled as an indigenous nation to self-government under Article 4 of UNDRIP to self-government and autonomy—the UNDRIP Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007.
Concluding remarks:
The Afar people are a distinct indigenous group in Eritrea. A permanent population with a durable distinct culture, language, and geography and a long-established history, self-awareness, and a degree of historic autonomous rule as an indigenous nation.
The birth of Eritrea in 1991 resulted in the loss of internal autonomy for the Afar nation in the traditional territories of Dankalia. In the years that followed statehood, the Eritrean state consolidated its control over Afar culture, economic life, livelihoods, strategic coastal villages, ports, and resources and violently oppressed and marginalized the population in Dankalia.
The UN has condemned Eritrea for crimes of persecution and crimes against humanity against Afar. (UN 2016, Page 73, para 295-296). If Eritrea continues to ignore the Afar grievances, the Afar will seek an alliance outside the country. There are 200,000 Afar refugees in Ethiopia alone, an additional 50,000 in Djibouti, and another 35,000 across Yemen and Saudi Arabia; the support for these refugees in the neighboring regions is growing as they grow in number.
Eritrea has many enemies in the region. Eritrea’s on-again, off-again relations with its neighbors could one day fall on the lab of Afar-friendly neighbors. Low-level Afar insurgency is everywhere in the area. Over 200,000 Afar refugees in the region want to go back to their homes and properties in Eritrea. Ethiopia has shown great interest in working with Afar traditional leadership and with the Eritrean government peacefully to access its ports. Ethiopia’s empowerment of its Afar citizens worked out well culturally, politically, and economically. The Ethiopian Afar are very concerned for their brethren Afar in Eritrea; they see the empowerment of their fellow brethren Afar in Eritrea as their success.
Eritrea’s failure to understand Afar's grievances will cause her to suffer far more significant consequences if it continues to act as a colonizing power rather than a nation-state that has fought for recognition, dignity, and justice for its people.
Eritrea must follow Ethiopia’s example in granting Afar autonomous function in Danaklia. World experiences show that the recognition of subnational states as Special Status has proven to be one of the most effective means of deterring conflicts over land and resources, indigenous grievances, and the claim of territorial rights of subnational identities.
The Special Status arrangement in Dankalia will allow the Afar indigenous leadership, mainly the Sultanate's traditional leaders (Makabon), to once again represent the interest of the Afar population. They have historical experience in signing agreements with superpowers in the colonial era.
The ports of Assab and Red Sea access are their jurisdiction under the Afar traditional customary laws, which the Afar societies abide by. Under Special Status, the Afar would have the right to own and lease the autonomous function of Dankalia, including the Assab port. Ethiopia has a natural right to use the Port of Assab. The Eritrean state has the right to claim its sovereignty and territorial integrity of Dankalia, but its power should not come at the expense of Afar marginalization.
Ethiopia has a forty-year history of using Assab as its main import-export Port of Ethiopia. The development aspiration of Ethiopia vis-a-vis the Afar with the Red Sea Ports is a natural one, and it also means a sound political for Eritrea and a sustainable economic strategy for all side's rapidly growing population.
The Role of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Eritrea is back in the folds of IGAD after 16 16-year hiatus. EGAD’s 2021-2015 strategic priorities for intervention include food security, socio-economic development, sustainable use of transboundary resources, and peace and security. In other words, they are intervening to resolve the possible ensuing conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia over access to Red Sea Port.
EGAD has the legal obligation, expertise, and vested interest to support socio-economic development, regional integration, and cooperation as its mission suggests.
IGAD has a critical role in the success of this initiative. IGAD has experience resolving conflicts over transboundary resources and socioeconomic development. The Afar fits the criteria of the transboundary nomadic nation in the region. IGAD should call a trilateral meeting between the governments of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Afar Sultanate in both countries, namely the Sultanate of Rahayta, the Sultanate of Biru, and the Sultanate of Awsa.
The Afar communities are caretakers of international borders between both countries, leading from the islands of Ethiopia and the coastal territories in the Red Sea Port of Assab. Transboundary trade was a lifeline that sustained the immediate border communities for centuries before these modern states were founded. There is no justification to deprive lifeline to thousands of people on both sides of the border.
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